Homes for Ukraine: which criminal record document do you need and when

Sponsors and guests under the Homes for Ukraine scheme who need a UK document to be accepted by an authority abroad will deal with the legalisation process run by the FCDO. An apostille is a stamped official certificate, and the FCDO’s Legalisation Office attaches it to UK public documents. Before attaching one, the office checks the signature or seal against the records it holds.

Which documents can be legalised

Legalisation covers a document that a UK public official has issued, or that a notary or solicitor in the UK has certified. The examples given on gov.uk are a power of attorney, a contract and a qualification certificate copy.

Two types of apostille

You apply for either type online.

• Paper-based apostille. The certificate comes on paper: you send the document by post, and registered businesses can instead hand it in personally.
• e-Apostille. A PDF that a UK notary or a solicitor has signed electronically.

When an e-Apostille is not available

An e-Apostille is not available for:

• certificates of birth, death, marriage, civil partnership or adoption, together with the other documents of the General Register Office;
• ACRO police certificates (England and Wales);
• DBS certificates (England and Wales);
• disclosure certificates (Scotland and Northern Ireland);
• fingerprint certificates.

Any document on this list has to go through the paper-based route instead.

Fees per document

Courier costs come on top of the fee for paper-based apostilles. A fee is not refunded if a document cannot be legalised.

Timescales

Paper or electronic: ask the receiving authority

Before ordering, check what the authority that will receive the document expects: some insist on paper even though an e-Apostille has been issued.

Whichever type a document needs, the apostille itself comes only from the FCDO Legalisation Office.